


The Taming of the Shrew

by casliyn



Category: Veep (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 19:52:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15892974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casliyn/pseuds/casliyn
Summary: Dan Egan is tasked with one assignment, to tame the shrew that is Amy Brookheimer.





	The Taming of the Shrew

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure to leave a comment and or kudos!

 

“I need you to go out with somebody.” 

 

Dan’s eyebrows raise at her as an entertained smirk makes its way onto his lips. 

 

“Well  _ Sophie,  _ I hate to tell you this but I have strong criteria of the girls who I even  _ consider  _ dating. I don’t just go for anybody.” 

 

She pulls out an envelope and waves it in the air, 

 

“Will fifty dollars help you put your rigorous dating checklist to the side for five minutes?”

 

Dan looks at the envelope and sits up in his seat. 

 

“Depends on who were talking about. It’s not one of those losers in a forensics class is it?” he holds a hand up. 

 

Sophie shakes her head, 

 

“It’s my younger sister Amy.” she admits with a nod of her head, “My parents have this bullshit rule of how  _ I’m  _ not allowed to date until Amy finds somebody.” 

 

He looks down and dusts off his plain black tee as he strokes his chin in interest. 

 

_ “Wait.”  _ he holds his hand up and cuts her off mid-rant. 

 

“You’re paying  _ me  _ to take out your sister?” he responds in disbelief as Sophie lowers the envelope on the table. 

 

She nods. 

 

“Take her out, have sex with her, do  _ whatever  _ you want. Just let it be until Prom.”

 

He blinks at that and looks down at the envelope once again. 

 

“I want thirty dollars for each date.” he declares with a slight hand tap on the table. 

 

“ _ Thirty?”  _

 

Dan shrugs his shoulders, 

 

“Nothing you can’t afford. Plus all I know about your sister is that she makes everyone run the  _ other  _ way, I need financial compensation for me to fully tame the shrew.”. 

 

Sophie rolls her eyes and pulls the cash out of the envelope with a loud sigh. 

 

“Fine!” she huffs out and throws the bills down on the table next to his notebook. 

 

Dan picks up the cash from the table and begins to count it in his hands with a satisfied smile on his lips. 

 

“Thanks, Susan.” he bellows after Sophie once she stands up from the table.

 

“It’s  _ Sophie.”  _ she turns around and retorts with an angry snarl.

 

It’s not like he gave a flying fuck. 

* * *

According to her peers, Amy Brookheimer was many things. 

 

Shrill, scary and apparently a ‘heinous bitch’. 

 

Did it matter to her though?

 

Absolutely fucking not. 

 

Why should the opinions of her underage, high school classmates dictate her or her feelings?

 

She found their opinions and thoughts like used kleenex-disposable, irrelevant and full of waste. 

 

It  _ especially  _ came in handy during the times Amy found herself standing in front of her classes and bossing everyone around with a plan  _ she  _ created. 

 

It’s freeing to not give a fuck about what other people think. 

 

It’s also helpful that she’s not one of those egotistical bitches that needed millions of friends (or even a boyfriend) to help boost her self-confidence. 

 

“Workin’ hard there huh, girlie?” 

 

She looks up from the inside of the locker and raises an eyebrow at her. 

 

“Somebody has to around here.” she retorts with a stern look at the brunette boy next to her. 

 

He dimples at that and plunges his hand into his jean pocket (clearly a rehearsed movement).

 

“Well, I’m glad that in our crowd of lazy teenagers we have  _ you  _ to pick up on all of the slack.” 

 

She rolls her eyes and slides out her Chemistry textbook and notebook-trying to avoid him altogether. 

“So happy you’ve realized that.” she gives him a small nod and returns to her locker. 

 

By now, she’s expected this mysterious boy to have gotten lost by now but when she looks back up he’s  _ still  _ standing there with a fucking smirk on his face. 

 

“Any particular reason you’re still standing here and smirking at me like a middle-aged pervert?” she questions him. 

 

He shrugs his shoulder and leans on the row of lockers. 

 

“Just admiring the view, Sweetheart.” he grins at her. 

 

Was he serious?

 

And  _ that  _ was exactly why she avoided teenagers (especially boys) at all costs. 

 

Because they say stupid shit like that to solely get in your pants. 

 

She slams her locker door shut and gives him a warm smile. 

 

“I am not your  _ view  _ and I’m certainly not your  _ Sweetheart.”  _ she narrows her eyes at him and nudges him to the side with her shoulder. 

 

Thank you to random asshole for further proving her point that teenage boys are all hormonal animals.

 

* * *

“I saw you talking to Dan Egan today.” Sophie’s voice travels into her room.

 

She rolls her eyes and flips the page of her book, 

 

“Spying on me? I didn’t know that you possess the ability to focus on one thing since you obtain the focus of a fruit fly.” 

 

Sophie scoffs at that and makes her way over to stand right over Amy. 

 

She looks up from her book and raises an eyebrow in aggravation, 

 

“I’m ignoring that.” Sophie crosses her arms with an irritated huff coming from her throat. 

 

Amy shrugs her shoulders and returns her eyes to her book. 

 

“And I’m ignoring you, Einstein. Haven’t gotten the hint yet?” she retorts. 

 

Sophie falls silent as she begins to roam around Amy’s room and plops herself down on the bed that sits in the middle of the room. 

 

“Why do you have to be so damn weird and sit in your room reading Shakespierre all day?” 

 

Did her sister have to be so damn uncultured and stupid?

 

“It’s  _ Shakespeare.”  _ she corrects her sister with a sharp tongue, “As opposed to what? Laying on my back all day for some sweaty quarterback whose on the verge of getting an STD?” 

 

Sophie toyed with a lock of her blonde hair. 

 

“It doesn’t bother you that we’re the  _ only  _ girls in school who aren’t allowed to date?” 

 

Amy plasters a studious look on her face for a brief second. 

 

“No, not really.” she shook her head after a brief moment

 

“Well, it should.” Sophie leans forward in protest with an aggravated look on her face. 

 

“It’s bad enough I had to sit around and wait until graduation to be able to date but  _ now  _ I have to wait until  _ you  _ date.” she points an accusing finger at Amy who props her feet upon her desk. 

 

Ah, Sophie. 

 

Since their father was a neurotic doctor (who was on the verge of a breakdown and or heart attack) they had a rule of not being allowed to date until they had graduated high school. 

 

With Sophie being a Senior, it wasn’t rare of boys (especially horny ones) to throw themselves at her for more than attention. 

 

It was  _ disgusting  _ and she couldn’t believe that her sister could be so damn blind at what it is they actually wanted. 

 

“Why don’t you direct that energy into  _ actually  _ graduating instead of obsessing over finding a horny teenage boy to blow smoke up your ass.” 

 

Sophie gives her a pointed look and grits her teeth, 

 

“Amy.  _ Please,  _ just do this one small thing for me.” she puts her hand on her chest, “Michael Lynn has a crush on me and-”

 

“Michael Lynn has a crush on  _ everyone.”  _ she brushes her off with a dry tone. 

 

“That’s beside the point, Amy.” she holds a hand up as she shakes her head over and over again. 

 

“Oh! There’s a point..” Amy blinks her eyes feigning innocence which further infuriates Sophie; to the point of her sliding off the bed and returning back on her feet to the ground. 

 

Sophie groans in irritation as she throws her hands up in the air and begins to walk towards the front door.

 

“You _ suck.” _

 

Amy opens her book back up and smirks to herself, 

 

“You  _ suck!”  _ she imitates her sister in a piercing, mocking tone. 

* * *

It’s not like he knows much about Amy Brookheimer.

 

All he knew was that she was the school’s shrew. 

 

And now he was tasked with the assignment of fully taming the shrew. 

 

Part of him understood  _ why  _ people ran the other way when dealing with her. 

 

Her scowl alone had the ability to haunt anyone into a dark corner.

It had been difficult to actually strike up a conversation with her because she didn’t know exactly  _ what  _ she liked. 

 

Without any knowledge of what she actually likes, their conversations were only limited to the weather and whatever the fuck was happening at school (both topics seemed boring).

 

So, after school, he takes the initiative to follow her around. 

 

It’s not  _ stalking  _ exactly, it’s simply..educating himself on his assignment. 

 

As he’s driving behind her, he immediately takes notice of her body language. 

 

When she’s alone, driving in her car, she listens to her Alternative, Hipster music on high. 

Music Taste? 

 

Noted

 

He watches as her shoulders bounce up and down along to the rhythm from his position behind the wheel. 

 

Then, she threw him for a loop as she pulled into a half-empty parking lot of the Pelton Plaza.

 

Pelton Plaza was the home of all of the Hipster Geeks and Nerds, he figured it only made sense of her to come here. 

 

He parks his car on the opposite side of the street as Amy drives into the lot and pulls into a parking space directly in front of the record store named ‘Van’s Vinyls’. 

 

Funny. 

 

The only people he knew who came to ‘Van’s Vinyls’ are the group of druggies who go around the corner to purchase their weekly supplies and the band geeks who snuck out during lunch to check out their selection of records. 

 

How much more nineties could these kids get?

 

He discreetly crosses the street and peers into the store’s window to see Amy mindlessly skimming through a rack of vinyl with a focused glare in her eyes. 

 

Besides class, he hadn’t seen her  _ that  _ focused before. 

 

The way her blue eyes dial in on something-it’s like she shuts out the whole world to focus on one thing. 

 

He watches as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she picks up a vinyl with her free hand and turns it to the back side to read the print. 

 

He leans forward as he squints his eyes to get a good luck at which record she’s looking at. 

 

When he gets an idea of what it is, he smiles to himself and pushes open the door and enters the store.

 

There’s a small jingle he hears overhead from the door as he enters and begins to look around the dimly lit store.

 

The store smells of freshly brewed coffee and a rich chocolate smell that fills Dan’s nostrils as he begins to pace around. 

 

Amy taps her fingernails on the vinyl’s backside and hums to herself without a care in the world as her eyes continue to rake over the vinyl. 

 

“Nice choice,” he speaks up as he nears her and pretends to be looking through the catalog of records. 

 

Amy’s head whips towards him at a dangerously scary speed and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

 

“Are you  _ following  _ me?” she questions him in an accusing tone. 

 

He shrugs his shoulders and smiles; enjoying the look of surprise on her face. 

 

“I was in the plaza and I wanted to come to say hi.” he reaches over her and pulls out a vinyl from the catalog she had her focus on before he interrupted her. 

 

She opens her mouth to respond but it shuts promptly to give him an unsure smile. 

 

“ _ Hi.”  _ she looks at him for a brief second and returns her attention back to the catalog in front of her. 

 

Tough crowd. 

 

“Not a big talker, huh?” he tries 

 

“Depends on the topic.” she rolls her eyes and begins to rifle through the catalog of albums. 

 

He nods at that and leans against the wall with his hands injected into his jean pockets,

 

He suspects that Amy’s waiting for him to leave her because the second she looks back up and notices that he’s still standing there she releases an irritated huff. 

 

“Why are you still standing here? Shouldn’t you be in detention or something?” she waves him off with a stern flick of her wrist. 

 

He laughs at that, 

 

“Had to postpone my appearance there for something more important.” 

 

Amy nods her head and feigns interest as she turns around and begins to look through more and more selections of vinyl. 

 

“What could that possibly be, terrorizing innocent teenage girls?” she blinks at him.

 

He grins at that and takes the vinyl from her hands, 

 

“How about you and I go to the movies or something this week?” he plays with the record in his hands. 

 

Her eyes slightly widened at that. 

 

“I’m sorry?” she gives him a confused look with a pointed tone. 

 

“You know, a date. Something people who are attracted to one another do.” 

 

She scoffs at that as her long, wavy hair falls into her face. 

 

“Well I’m not attracted to you, I don’t even  _ know  _ you.” she protests as she eyes him up and down. 

 

He gives her a pout and brushes the strand of hair away from her face. 

 

“I beg to differ, darling.” he crosses his arms. 

 

“I’m sure you’ve thought about me naked.” he leans in and whispers in her ear and watches as she immediately bites her lip; taken aback from him being so blunt. 

 

He knew he had an effect on girls. 

 

“Am I  _ that  _ transparent?” she tilts her head to the side in a mocking tone. 

 

He shrugs his shoulders at that and looks her up and down, 

 

“Depends.” he tapped his foot on the ground as an Alanis Morissette song droned on and on in the background from the store’s speaker at a low volume. 

 

“Come on” he nudges her with a soft elbow, “Let's go out. Afraid you’ll enjoy it too much?” he tapped his fingernails on the rail of the counter. 

 

She crossed her ankles and scoffed at him, 

 

“Definitely. Because  _ that’s  _ what I’m afraid of.” she takes the record back from him and tucks it under her arm as she begins to make her way towards the register. 

 

He hums in response and follows after her as she stands in place in line. 

 

“It wasn’t a no,” he whispers in her ear. 

 

She pulls away from him and gives him an unimpressed smirk, 

 

“It certainly wasn’t a yes either.” she turns towards him and tucks a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear. 

 

It was weird.

 

Despite them not knowing one another, their conversation seemed to be easy and played well off of one another. 

 

If he hadn’t known any better, he could’ve sworn they would’ve been dating (just by how comfortable they seemed with one another). 

 

“You waltz in here and expect me to say yes to a date with you. I don’t even  _ know  _ your name.” she shakes her head at him as she walks forward as she gets closer to the register. 

 

“That’s your only requirement then?” his eyebrows raise in wonder as he crosses his arms, 

 

“I’m Dan.” he puts a hand on his chest. 

 

He swears he sees the tiniest smile break onto her lips. 

 

She had a pretty smile. 

 

She clicks her tongue and combs a hand through her hair, 

 

_ “Amy.”  _ she gives him a small smile and rolls her eyes. 

 

“So..it’s a date then?” he offers. 

 

Amy ponders for a second and gives him a bitter laugh, 

 

“Nope.” 

 

And with a small smirk, she walks up to the register, leaving Dan in her dust with a disappointed look on his face. 

Well. 

 

All is fair in love and... _ Amy.  _

* * *

“What the actual fuck is taking you so long?” Sophie corners him one day after the final bell has rung; releasing them from school.

 

Dan looks up from his locker and gives Sophie an eye roll. 

 

“I don’t think you realize this but it takes a lot more to warm your sister up than you think.” he retorts as he begins to rifle through his locker in search of his wallet. 

 

Sophie huffs out in irritation and sighs, 

 

“What’s the problem?” her hand flies to her hip, “You’ve gotten your money and I’m not paying you to just stand around and wink at my sister.” 

 

He pauses at that. 

 

“Funny. I thought that’s exactly why you were paying me.” he shrugs his shoulders and pulls the wallet out from the back of his locker. 

 

Sophie whimpers in annoyance and straightens out her posture as she holds a hand up. 

 

“I  _ thought  _ you were deemed for this shit. Taking girls out and dumping them after a few weeks.” she looks around the crowded quad. 

 

His eyebrows raise at that. 

 

“It’s a bit concerning that you’re paying  _ me  _ to break your little sister’s heart, don’t you think?” 

 

Sophie stomps her foot on the ground as her shoulders slump. 

 

“I’m not asking you for much, I just need you to do this one thing for me.” she puts a hand on her chest. 

 

That’s one thing he’s learned about Sophie Brookheimer in the past week. 

 

She’s a selfish bitch that’ll do whatever (and possibly whoever) it takes to get what she wants. 

 

At this point, it seemed like Sophie was a bigger bitch than Amy was. 

 

At least that’s what it seemed like so far. 

 

“Look. I’d love to get this over with just as much as you but I know literally nothing about her.” 

 

Sophie looks around and combs a hand through her hair, 

 

“I figured you’d say that.” she nods her head and opens her purse, “I mean, she’s my own damn sister and even  _ I  _ don’t know anything about her.” she shakes her head as she rifles through the large bag. 

 

He looks around the quad impatiently to make sure Amy’s nowhere near them. 

 

He figured that she had no knowledge whatsoever about his and Sophie’s deal and he wanted to keep it that way. 

 

For some reason, he wanted to keep it that way. 

 

After a few minutes of digging, Sophie reveals a few crumpled pieces of paper and shoves it in his hands. 

 

“What’s this?” his face crinkles at the mess of papers Sophie shoved into his grasp. 

 

“She and her friend Sue are going to this rock bar this week Downtown, that’s some information I found about it and some other shit that might help. 

 

His eyes glaze over the paper and his eyes widen in surprise, 

 

“Series 41?” he reads off in disbelief, “Amy goes to Series 41?” he chuckles to himself. 

 

The only people he knew who went to Series 41 were metalheads and rock groupies (and he had a strong suspicion that Amy wasn’t apart of either of those groups).

 

“Apparently.” she zips her back up and crosses her arms, “Now go there tomorrow night and convince her to date you or whatever.” 

 

Dan leans off of the lockers and slams his door shut. 

 

“I preferred to be pay upfront now.” he narrows his eyes at Sophie. 

 

The blonde girl’s mouth drops in protest as she adjusts the sunglasses resting on the top of her head. 

 

“Why? You haven’t done anything yet.” she tossed her hair behind her back. 

 

He shrugs his shoulders and taps his foot on the ground, 

 

“Upfront or it’s off.” 

 

Sophie grits her teeth and throws her hands up in the air, 

 

“Fine!” she gives up in defeat as she plunges her hand in her purse and pulls out her wallet. 

 

She counts the bills quickly as she yanks them out and hands over the money in defeat. 

 

“You better get on your shit though.” she points at him as she throws her wallet back in her purse and strides away in anger. 

 

As long as Sophie held up her end of the deal, he would have no trouble. 

* * *

“I need water.” Amy holds a hand up to Sue as she stops dancing. 

 

“I’ll go get us some, I’ll be right back.” she points towards the bar to Sue who nods and continues to keep dancing. 

 

As Amy steps off the dance floor, she hears the music of the rock band continuing to beat on and on in the background as she begins to walk towards the bar. 

 

It was Friday Night and whole most people from her school would be making their ways to motels (to hook up with one another) and or to whatever party that was happening, Amy opted to do something different. 

 

Once every two weeks, she puts on a new outfit and goes Downtown with Sue to actually enjoy herself in the company of someone who isn’t a shitty teenager. 

 

She fixes her black tube top and pearls as she arrives at the large glass bar. 

 

The bartender points at her and smiles, 

 

“Two waters, please.” she holds up two fingers at the bartender who nods and holds up a finger. 

 

She slides onto the stool and fans herself off in an attempt to cool her body down from all of the dancing. 

 

She looks away from the stage and is taken aback when she sees none other than Dan sitting on the opposing stool. 

 

“You know if you’re trying to ask me out again, you might as well get it over with” she puts her chin in the palm of her hand. 

 

He shrugs his shoulder and takes a sip of the soda from his glass. 

 

“Do you mind? You’re kinda ruining this for me.” 

 

She rolls her eyes and taps her fingernails on the counter of the bar as she loud music from the band surges on in the background. 

 

“What are you doing here anyway? I wouldn’t expect a preppy bad-ass like yourself to travel all this way.” 

 

He dimples at her and nods,

 

“You think I’m a badass?” he inquires her and she immediately hates herself. 

 

She shakes her head and crosses her ankles as her feet dangle off the stool. 

 

“In your suburban, preppy neighborhood I’m sure that you’re the one that sticks out amongst the rest.” she slides her body off the stool and reaches out to grab the water bottles from the bartender. 

 

She turns away and she hears his footsteps follow after her.

 

“You should wear stuff like this more often.” he looks her up and down with a small smirk on his lips. 

 

Disgusting. 

 

“Is that so?” she grits her teeth in aggravation, “Any particular reason why I should wear a tube top and leather pants at  _ school?”  _

 

That was the problem with teenage boys. 

 

The second a girl chooses to wear something nice to feel good about themselves, they automatically assume that they’re dressing for  _ them  _ and they feel some weird possessive grasp over them. 

 

“Because you look hot and sexy...and  _ beautiful.”  _ he compliments her at the exact same moment the music cuts off. 

 

For a brief second, she feels everything stop as everyone’s eyes fall on them for a brief moment; in a way it was like they were the only people in the room. 

 

She bites back a smile and blushes to herself as the music resumes and the bodies on the dance floor return to socializing and dancing around the two of them.

 

It was the first time someone had called her beautiful and it felt pretty nice.

 

“You know the lead singer is pretty good but she’s no Stevie Nicks or Joan Jett..” he shrugs and takes a sip of his soda. 

 

She’s in such shock that she doesn’t even notice her mouth open in surprise. 

 

“You have good taste in music, I’ll give you that.” she unscrews the cap of the water bottle and takes a refreshing sip. 

 

He grins down at her and smoothes out his jean shirt, 

 

“Good enough for me to take you out?” he raises his perfectly arched eyebrow at her. 

 

She tries to distract herself long enough by looking around the crowded area of teenagers swaying along to the music. 

 

Instead of replying she releases a small hum sound and shrugs her shoulders, 

 

She gives him a final smile and turns around to make her way back to Sue. 

 

“Fine. I’ll get you at six next week.”

 

She pauses for a brief second and turns around to face him once again. 

 

“Fine, I’ll make sure to wear this outfit again since I look so  _ sexy  _ in it.” she teases him a sardonic tone. 

 

He simply grins at that and nods his head, 

 

“Fine by me, baby.”    
  


* * *

 

“Amy. Do this for me,  _ please.”  _ Sophie begs her the night of Michael’s party. 

 

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, 

 

“Why? So you can go out and rub yourself against some high schooler’s semi-hard dick?” she tilts her head to the side. 

 

Sophie pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. 

 

“Why can’t you be cool for one minute?” she holds a finger up, “We can’t stay in this house forever you know.”

 

Amy props her back against the wall of their hallway, 

 

“Trust me. No one knows that better than me.” she hugged herself, “Besides, I have plans tonight and they don’t involve going to the party.”

 

Sophie stomps her foot on the ground, 

 

“Is this about Dan Egan taking you out tonight? Cause I can guarantee you that he’ll most likely want to take you to the party.”

 

She opens her mouth to respond but falls silent for a brief moment

 

“How do you know about Dan?” she squints her eyes and grounds her feet into the floor. 

 

Sophie pauses for a moment and purses out her lips,

 

“That’s beside the point, Amy.” she changes the subject with a flick of her wrist, “Just go to this one party for me, okay?” she pouts her lips at Amy.

 

She unhinges her jaw and releases a deep sigh.

 

Her mouth opens to respond but the sound of the doorbell ringing cuts her silent. 

 

Without waiting another minute she makes her way down the stairs and opens the front door to be met with Dan. 

She does a double take and raises her eyebrow

 

“What are you doing here?

 

He looks at her like his presence is obvious. 

 

“To take you to the party of course.” he points at his car behind him. 

 

She must make a funny expression at that because his facial features soften at her as he tilts his head to the side. 

 

“No leather pants tonight?” 

 

She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head, 

 

“Sorry I didn’t dress sexy enough for you.” she gives him a bitter laugh, “Don’t wanna take me out anymore?” she plunges her hands in her jean pockets. 

 

He dimples at her and leans against the wooden post of the front porch. 

 

“You know you don’t scare me right? As much as you try you’re not getting that far.” 

 

She crossed her arms and raised her chin into the air, 

 

“I’m not trying to scare you.” 

 

He smirks at that and turns his car keys on his finger, 

 

“You ready to go then?” he tilts his chin at her. 

 

She didn’t know who to find weirder.

 

Dan (and his sudden attraction of her) or Sophie (and her constant push towards her dating somebody).

 

“I don’t want to go to some stupid party.” she blinks her eyes at him. 

 

He takes a step closer to her and bends down to look her in the eyes, 

 

“Lucky for you that’s  _ exactly  _ what we have planned for tonight.”

 

She throws her head back in protest and rolls her eyes to the back of her head, 

 

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” he protests with a playful tone

 

“I have a feeling you and I have two completely different ideas of fun.” she hugs her body as she shakes her head. 

 

“Don’t jump to conclusions so soon.” he takes her chin in his fingers and titles it up so they’re looking at each other directly in the eyes.

 

God, did he have to be so goddamn annoying?

 

* * *

The second they got to the party, all hell broke loose. 

 

Amy and Sophie got into a disagreement within a few minutes and inventively it left Amy in a bad fucking mood. 

 

Every time he tried to talk to her or have fun with her she shrugged him off and took a cup of whiskey from whoever was passing by with the tray of drinks. 

 

There were over hundreds of teenagers that filled the suburban mansion along with the loud hip-hop music blasting over the speakers. 

 

He navigated his way through the crowd in search of Amy as his mind raced to wherever she could’ve possibly have gone. 

 

At this point, a few hours had gone by and he still didn’t see her. 

 

She could’ve been passed out on the ground.

 

Being felt up by some asshole. 

 

Having sex with someone she didn’t even know

 

Or fucking ditched the party as a whole.

 

Since he drove his car to the party, he didn’t want to crash into anything on the way back so he opted to stay  _ out  _ of drinking. 

 

But since it’s a high school party, no one gave a shit. 

 

So, he still had the beer can (he hadn’t drunk out of) nestled in his hand as he continued to look for Amy through the crazy crowd.

 

He considers asking Sophie for a brief second.

 

But there’s something about looking up and seeing her dancing and grinding against Michael Lynn make it seem like she couldn’t give a rat’s ass where Amy is. 

 

He combs a frustrated hand through his hair and pauses in his tracks. 

 

“Dan! How did you do it?” Jonah Ryan practically screams as he bumps into Dan’s body.

 

His face scrunches in confusion, 

 

“ _ What _ ? What the hell are you talking about?” he feels his shoulders tense up (like Amy’s whenever she gets pissed or annoyed).

 

He opens his mouth to speak but he’s cut off by the sound of the music being changed and the teenagers in the living room bursting into a loud cheer as they begin to crowd into a circle.

 

It’s not until he pushes himself into the circle when he sees  _ who  _ everyone is cheering for.

 

It’s Amy.

 

And she’s dancing like she has no care in the fucking world as everyone raises their cups in saute and cheers her on. 

 

She’s dancing the way she was at ‘Series 41’ but in a weird way, it’s  _ way  _ hotter.

 

He doesn’t even blame himself for thinking that way. 

 

She’s moving her hips and flipping her hair around like some out of control sex goddess and he’s not exactly lying when he says it’s turning him on.

 

With the way the other guys in the circle are staring at her, he could tell he wasn’t the only one getting turned on by it. 

 

Having had enough of the creepy gawkers and grins, he steps forward and tries to grab Amy.

 

“Amy lets go outside for a minute,” he suggests as she pauses her dancing for a sip of her liquor. 

 

She shakes her head furiously and continues to sway her hips to the rhythm.

“Dan, I’m  _ fine.”  _ she flinches in his arms and continues to dance.

 

She tries to shrug him off but ends up falling backwards and he catches her right on time, holding her body upright.

 

“No you’re not, come on.” he fixes his posture and throws her arm around his shoulder so he can properly escort her off the dancefloor and out the double doors leading to the expansive background. 

 

He ends up bringing her to a bench directly on a small hill a small walking distance away from the loud house; just for them to be alone. 

 

“I’m fine..” she giggles as he sets her body on the bench carefully and Dan manages to pull the red cup from her hands. 

 

She pouts at the move and relaxes her body against the bench with a small moan. 

 

“You’re wasted.” he narrows his eyes at her and pours out the remaining liquid into a few plants behind the bench. 

 

She hugs her body and stretches her legs out in front of her. 

 

“You’re cute when you act like you give a shit..” a large smile forms on her lips as she raised her chin towards him. 

 

He releases a sigh of irritation and takes a seat next to her on the bench. 

 

“Amy. You know I care..” he narrows his eyes at her sternly as he feels his fists clenched by his sides. 

 

For a brief moment, they both fall silent as Amy plays with her necklace with her fingers. 

 

Her lips melt into a goofy grin as her wavy hair falls into her face, 

 

“You have really pretty eyes,” she admits.

 

They lock eyes for a brief second and he watches as Amy’s cheeks flare up in blush and she looks away for a brief second. 

 

“Thanks.” he smiles at her and rubs a hand on her back.

 

Then, without a moment passed she leans forward and throws up all over the ground. 

 

Talk about a romantic moment. 

 

Later, when he’s driving her home (Sophie was getting a ride from whoever the fuck), they spend the conversation laughing and cringing about god knows what. 

 

There’s something he notices when he takes a few glances of her here and there. 

 

He enjoys spending time with her. 

 

In a way, he wishes everyone could see Amy in her element like this. 

 

Sure, her facial expressions could be intimidating, followed by her demeanor. 

 

But underneath all of it, she was one of the biggest softies he knew (besides his mother of course). 

 

“Thanks for the ride home.” she unbuckles her seatbelt after he parks in the driveway of her house. 

 

He shrugs his shoulders and leans back in his seat, 

 

“It was either that or I let you sway your way back home.” 

 

She slaps her forehead and shakes her head at that. 

 

“You’ll never let me live that one down will you?”

 

He gives a half shrugs and taps his fingers on the steering wheel.

 

“I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy the swaying..” he winks at her which prompts her to bite her bottom lip. 

 

Her laughter fills the car and he soon joins in too. 

 

But the second she leans forward and presses a kiss on his cheek, he stops. 

 

It was the first time they had actually been  _ physical  _ with one another and while yes, he wanted to do more, there was a part of him that felt guilty about her being drunk and all.

 

“Not tonight.Ames.” he gently pats her thigh and he feels her body go stiff. 

 

He keeps his eyes forward as he listens to her silence and begins to question herself.

 

She shakes her head furiously and pops open the door, 

“Go to hell, Dan.” her lips curl up in anger as she steps out of the car and slams the door shut. 

 

* * *

 

Amy avoids him for the next week and it drives him  _ crazy.  _

 

Every time he tries to approach her she either scowls at him or strides away without a beat (at this point it’s usually both). 

 

He wonders if she knows about the whole Sophie ordeal; that would perfectly explain her silence. 

 

But as far as he’s concerned and what Sophie’s told him, she has no idea. 

 

Having had enough of the silent treatment he strides over to her table during lunch and takes a seat on the bench next to her the minute he sees Sue cross over to the bathroom. 

 

“Amy.” 

 

She looks up and her shoulders tense up in defense, 

 

“Leave me alone.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

She scoffs and turns her body away from him, 

 

“Because you’re the  _ last  _ person I want to see right now.” she rolls her eyes and returns her attention to her notebook.

 

Her eyes fall onto her face and he moves his finger to push it aside but she jerks away from him with a defensive scowl. 

 

“Ames, is this about last week?” he tilts his head to give her a pointed look with a worried look on his face. 

 

She falls silent and taps her fingernails on the table; ignoring him. 

 

“Look. I was trying to do the right thing.” he shrugs his shoulders and lifted his hands into the air and landed them back on the table. 

 

She laughs bitterly at that, 

 

“So you teasing me for the past few weeks and rejecting me when I’m finally in the palm of your hand is your idea of doing the ‘right thing’ then you can go and fuck yourself.” she points an accusing finger. 

 

He rolls his eyes and leans forward into her; taking in her smell. 

 

“Listen. What can I do to make you forgive me?” he offers. 

 

“Fall off a cliff and make sure you land face first.” she turns her body away from him and keeps her eyes on her notebook. 

 

“Ames, can you please just talk to me?” he tries again.

 

She flinches slightly, 

 

“Go flash the lunch lady or something.” she gives him a dismissive hand wave. 

 

Looking back on it now, he probably should’ve just paid the lunch lady to go along with it and  _ act  _ like he did but…

 

Something inside of him just really wanted to make Amy laugh. 

 

So when he exposed himself to the poor, innocent lunch lady and he saw Amy laugh?

 

There was a small part of him that was happy with the result.

 

* * *

 

“You know you might be the only person whose bailed me out of Detention, besides my mother.” 

 

Amy laughs at that and crosses her arms with her chin tilted up towards him, 

 

“Sounds like a prestigious list to be apart of..” she wraps her hands around the swing’s chains. 

 

“I’d like to think so..” he winks at her as he taps his foot on the ground underneath them. 

 

After Dan exposed himself to the lunch lady and was taken directly into Mr. Furlong’s in-school suspension room, she couldn’t help but feel the guilt arise in her system. 

 

Had she known that he liked her enough to expose himself to a middle aged woman, then she would’ve tried to calm down over him rejecting her of one kiss. 

 

A silence falls over the both of them as they both sit on the swings opposite from one another and play with the chain of the swings. 

 

“Thanks for having my ass back there though, Furlong would’ve kept me there till I was forty.” he releases a deep breath. 

 

Amy bites her bottom lip at that, 

 

“He’s not a Dan Egan fan?”

 

“Surprisingly, no.” 

 

“Any particular reason at all?” 

 

She watches his face as he pauses to think for a brief second.

 

Yes, while he could be an asshole at times, Amy couldn’t exactly blame herself for being slightly attracted to him. 

 

It was the simple things like the freckle above his lip or even his broad shoulders and nice abs (he was wearing a tank top and they were rippling through, could you blame her for noticing?)

 

“I dated his daughter last year,” he admits with a small tone. 

 

“Oh.” she looks away from him; so he won’t see her reaction of disappointment. 

 

“Don’t worry though, it was only because I wanted to piss him off.” he holds up a reassuring hand which prompts Amy to give him a teasing look. 

 

“Is that why you date people? To piss everyone else off?” she raises an arched eyebrow at him.

 

He goes still for a second and nods with a satisfied grin, 

 

“Something along those lines.” 

 

Then he leans forward and presses a kiss on her lips, surprising the ever-loving shit out of her. 

 

She gets so lost into the kiss doesn’t even notice it when he pulls her out of the swing set and into his lap. 

 

Going along with it, she cradles his cheek and sucks on his bottom lip tenderly as he runs a hand up and down her back.

 

They pull apart and it leaves Amy panting heavily as Dan toys with a strand of her blonde hair. 

 

“Go to prom with me.” he moves his lips to her neck which prompts Amy to stifle a small moan as she looks around the backyard; making sure no one else is there.

 

She tries to respond but the words get stuck in her throat.

 

“Why? Why can’t we just..go out again?” she suggests trying to pull herself away from Dan’s mouth but he only keeps kissing her. 

 

He sucks against her neck, 

 

“It’ll be fun..” he pulls away from her neck and gives her a bright grin, “We get dressed up, you look hot, I look hot..hang out together.” he offers to her. 

 

Spend eighty dollars to go to a dance  _ at  _ school?

 

No thanks.

 

“I don’t really care for that kind of stuff.” she pulls herself out of his lap and transitions back into seating in the opposing swing set. 

 

He groans and taps her thigh, 

 

“ _ Amy.  _ It’ll be fun, it’s just one dance.” 

 

Her face scrunches at that and she crosses her legs, 

 

“Why are you pushing this so hard? What’s in it for you if  _ I  _ go.” she puts a possessive hand on her chest. 

 

He falls silent and gives her a half shrug of his shoulders, 

 

“I can’t want to be with you all of a sudden?” he questions her. 

 

She releases a soft sigh and unhinges her jaw, 

 

“Just answer my question, Dan.” she plays with her fingers timidly. 

 

He rolls his eyes and pats his thigh,

 

“No. There’s  _ nothing  _ in it for me.” he shakes his head at her, “Besides having a fun time with you, that’s it.” 

She hates how she feels her cheeks arise in a deep blush. 

 

All she can do is roll her eyes and scold him for being so damn cheesy. 

 

* * *

 

“See? Wasn’t it worth coming here with me?” Dan says as the two of them dance on the dance floor at Prom. 

 

Amy gives him a playful smirk and tucks the loose strand of her updo behind her ear, 

 

“Maybe for  _ once  _ you had a point,” she concludes with an eye roll as they dance together.

 

It took a lot of convincing, but somehow someway he got Amy to agree to come to prom with him. 

 

Before they came though, he made it a mission to put all of the money Sophie had given him  _ back  _ in their locker before anything else could happen.

 

It looks like Sophie had gotten the hint since she was far away from the two of them on the  _ other  _ side of the large room. 

 

He took his hand in hers and spun her in a circle which caused her to double over in laughter. 

 

God did he love that sound. 

 

It was starting to ring through his ears whenever they were apart, it was adorable. 

 

He pulled her into his body and smiled down at her as she self-consciously brought her hand down to dust off the imaginary dust on her purple dress. 

 

It was cute yet frustrating every time she did that. 

 

“Stop worrying about yourself, you look amazing.” he compliments her

 

She gives him a soft smile and runs a hand up and down his arm, 

 

“You’re just saying that.” she looks away from his eyes and down at her dress. 

 

He takes her chin in his fingers and tilts her head up, 

 

“I’m not.” he gives her a playful smirk and she breaks her pout into a grin. 

 

He bends down and places a kiss on her lips which prompts her to cradle his cheek in her hand. 

 

“Why don’t we go off the floor for a second?” she leans up to his ear and whispers. 

 

He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and plays with her hand. 

 

She shakes her head and holds up a finger, 

 

“Not for that, you pervert.” she begins to lead him off the floor and towards the bathrooms. 

 

Technically, they weren’t dating  _ but  _ occasionally they kissed one another and got handy.

 

It’s not like he hadn’t done the deed before  _ but  _ he wasn’t so sure about Amy so..he didn’t mind not doing anything with her until she was ready.

 

They laugh and kid with one another as Amy directs them through the lobby and she stops in front of the bathroom, 

 

“I’ll be back in a second.” she holds a finger up to him and makes her way into the bathroom. 

 

He leans against the wall of the lobby as he watches the array of high schoolers enter and exit the ballroom with their friends and dates. 

 

He takes in the moment of comfortable silence as he waits for Amy.

 

It was nice to get away from all of those noise for a second.

 

“Hey, Faggy-Hair!” 

 

He looks up and is met with a flare nostrils Sophie who carries her red dress in her hand and the envelope with the returned money in the other. 

 

“Jesus Christ Sophie, keep your goddamn voice down.” he pushes himself off the wall and pulls her by her shoulder away from the bathroom door; keeping her away from Amy in the bathroom. 

 

She waves the envelope around in the air, 

 

“What the fuck is this?” her chest heaves up and down in anger as fiery eyes narrow in on Dan. 

 

He looks around self consciously and holds his hands up in defense, 

 

“The deal’s off, Sophie.” he grits his teeth at her. 

 

Sophie’s eyes flash dangerously, 

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

 

“I can’t do it anymore..that’s all the money you’ve given me and...I can’t do it anymore.” 

 

“Why not? A few weeks ago you didn’t give a flying shit about this girl, and now you magically do?” 

 

He looks away for a brief second as his shoulders tense up defensively. 

 

“It’s more than you’ve done.” 

 

Sophie stomps her foot on the ground and tosses her hair behind her back, 

 

“I paid you to  _ date  _ her. Not twiddle thumbs, swing on swing sets or even play nice with her.” she sighs dramatically. 

 

“Well, it’s different now.” 

 

“What?” Sophie chuckles mockingly and crosses her arms, “You’ve gotten  _ feelings  _ for her all of a sudden?” she leans forward with an accusing tone.

 

“No.” he strongly denies with a shake of his head, “It’s just that-”

 

“You  _ fucking  _ asshole.” a small voice from behind cuts him off mid-sentence. 

 

He turns around and is met with a shell-shocked Amy who stands there with a blank expression. 

 

He feels his whole heart break into two as he sees the tears begin to form in her eyes. 

 

He knew that she cried a few times in her life but to actually see it was mind-blowing. 

 

“Ames, it’s not what you-”

 

She flinches away from him as the tears begin to roll down her face, 

 

“Nothing in it for you my ass.” she shakes her head at him and begins to step backwards away from him.

 

He turns back around to face Sophie who gives him a tight-lipped smile.

 

“I really thought you were different, Dan.” he hears the wobble in Amy’s voice. 

When he turns back to face Amy, she’s already flying down the staircase with her dress in one hand and the other holding onto the railing like her life depends on it. 

 

At this point, he doesn’t know what’s worse, 

 

Watching Amy sprint down the stairs with tears rolling down her face or knowing damn well he’s the main reason why.

* * *

“I’m sorry.” 

 

Amy looks up to see Sophie standing under her door with a guilty look on her face. 

 

It was the day after prom and Amy had kept herself locked in her room, far away from her parents and god-awful sister.

 

“No need to entertain me with your false sensitivity, I don’t give a shit.” 

 

Sophie sighs and tries to enter Amy’s room but the scowl Amy gives her is enough to make her hold her hands up in defense. 

 

“I was doing it to help you.” she protests

 

Amy scoffs at that and taps her pencil on her notebook, 

 

“The only thing you’ve done is embarrass me in front of the whole school.” 

 

Sophie gives her a raised eyebrow, 

 

“I thought you didn’t care about what everyone thought of you?” 

 

Amy grits her teeth, 

 

“I don’t.” she throws her pencil down and crosses her arms, “But you had  _ no  _ right to do that to me, Sophie.” 

 

“You have no idea what it feels like to have that happen to you.” 

 

After she came back from the bathroom and heard Sophie and Dan talking about their ‘agreement’, she hailed a cab and came directly home. 

 

Just standing there made her feel sick and weak all over. 

The saddest part of it all was that she was starting to develop feelings for that loser. 

 

His smirk, charm, and laugh made Amy feel  _ wanted  _ and not feared for the first time in her life.

 

And fuck if that didn’t feel nice.

 

She hadn’t every experienced that type of connection before.

 

And for the one connection, she had to be an ‘arranged’ one made her feel worthless.

 

“What do you want me to do?” Sophie shakes her head at Amy, “You weren’t going to find anyone so all I did was give him a little  _ push.”  _ she tries but Amy’s not having any of it. 

 

“I wanted you to stay  _ out  _ of my life.” she sits up in her bed with a loud tone, 

 

“Is that too hard for you to understand?” she says feelings the tears begin to slide down her face. 

 

The emotion in her voice must surprise Sophie because she falls silent and begins to step away from the door. 

 

“I’ll just..I’ll leave you be.” she shakes her head and closes the door behind her. 

 

Being alone seemed to be the new theme of her life. 

* * *

As he expected, Amy went mute. 

 

No eye contact, no speaking and not even bothering to acknowledge his existence for the past few days. 

 

He understands her anger though. 

 

He should’ve came clean about the whole Sophie thing from the start, he gets it. 

 

But earlier in English, he didn’t fully understand it until she stood up to read her assignment. 

 

Her words still haunted him in his brain. 

 

_ I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. _

 

_ I hate the way you drive your car. _

 

_ I hate it when you stare. _

 

_ I hate your stupid smirk and the way you read my mind.  _

 

_ I hate you so much it makes me sick. _

 

_ It even makes me rhyme.  _

 

_ I hate it _

 

_ I hate the way you’re always right. _

 

_ I hate it when you lie _

 

_ I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. _

 

_ I hate it when you’re not around, and the fact that you didn’t call. _

 

_ But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you, _

 

_ Not even close, not even a little bit, _

 

_ Not even at all.  _

 

And that’s when it all clicked for him.

 

Amy  _ loved  _ him. 

 

And that’s all he needed to know. 

* * *

After school, she goes directly home now. 

No more record store and no more hanging out with Dan.

Just going straight home without a care in the world.

She didn’t want to run herself the risk of being publicly embarrassed all over again.

It doesn’t help that she’s in a bad mood when she gets into her car, and it  _ especially  _ doesn’t help that Stevie Nicks comes onto the radio.

Usually, Stevie made her sing and bounce along in joy but now it all reminded her of what (or well  _ who)  _ she had lost in the past few days.

The second she gets home she all but avoids Sophie as she kicks off her shoes and drags herself up the stairs and into her room.

She slams the door behind her and slides down, releasing a soft groan as her butt hits the floor and she throws her head back.

Thanks to Sophie’s now infamous deal with Dan, all anyone would talk about at school is how Amy Brookheimer was such a bitch she had to  _ pay  _ someone to even look at her.

While yes, she always opted to not give a shit about what other people thought…

There was still that small part of her that felt hurt by the shit people were saying about her now.

She never understood why people were such assholes.

After a few moments of silently meditating her eyes flutter open and she sees a purple box waiting patiently on her bed.

Her face scrunches up in confusion as she stands to her feet and walks over to inspect the mysterious package.

She opens the box slowly and is taken aback when she peers inside to see the newly purchased gift.

It’s a Lilac Purple record player with the letter ‘A’ sprawled across the topic in a silver glaze.

Her mouth drops in awe as she runs her finger along the smooth surface and smiles to herself.

She was in need of a new one since her current one used to belong to her mother while  _ she  _ was in college.

“It took me two hours to track that sucker down.” a voice calls out from behind her.

Her head whips up and she’s met with Dan standing next to her seat in the corner of the room.

Her heart practically drops,

“How long have you been there?” her body tenses up.

He shrugs his shoulders,

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Who let you in?”

“Your mom. She  _ loves  _ me now by the way..”

She rolls her eyes at that.

“Don’t be flattered. My mom likes everyone.”

He gives her a half shrug of his shoulders,

“You don’t hate me.”

She looks away from his eyes and back down at the record player; she needs a minute.

“How’d you jump to that conclusion?” she raises an eyebrow at him accusingly

“Your poem.”

She freezes for a moment and falls silent; she was trying to push the poem to the side of her mind.

“It was an assignment.”

“It was your  _ feelings. _ ”

She looks back up and he’s standing right next to her with a soft smile on his lips; for some strange reason, she begins to smile too.

“How do I know you’re being sincere this time around?” she crosses her arms and squares her body in front of him,

“For all, I know you could’ve used the money So-”

He pulls her in for a tender kiss and keeps a firm hand on the small of her back.

Forgetting her words, Amy goes along with it and moves her hands to cup his cheeks as he pulls her into his front.

“Word of advice, don’t  _ ever  _ mention your sister while we're together.” 

For whatever reason, she giggles at that as he pulls her back in for another kiss.

While yes, it’s  _ very  _ enjoyable...there’s something else she needs to know.

So she pulls apart from him for a moment.

“Why are you doing all of this? And be honest this time..” she blinks her eyes at him.

He smirks at her and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear

“Everyone thinks you’re this raging bitch when in all actuality you’re one of the biggest softies I’ve ever met.” he looks her up and down.

“So?”

“So, you don’t scare me, Brookheimer.” he wraps his arms around her waist which prompts her to go rogue in the cheeks.

She looks away from him for a brief second; smiling to herself.

“Plus I’m a big fan of your dancing,” he whispers against her lips and she laughs at that.

“You might be the only one..” she declares and pulls his bottom lip in for another kiss.

They find themselves lost in the kiss until Amy pulls back away to make one more point.

“You know every time I get pissed off you can’t keep buying me record players.”

He nods like it’s obvious,

“Oh, I know. There’s still speakers, radios, records and all of that.”

This time she doesn’t hold back the laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr: @Casliyn  
> Twitter: @casliynocean


End file.
